a two post night, montagny

the wine is Domaine Faively 2005 Montagny, Domaine de la Croix Jacquelet.

sorry, no neat photos to go with this one because it always seems to be gray when we visit this region... that said, there is nothing gray about this wine.

montagny is the southernmost village of the cote chalonnaise. the only varietal permitted is chardonnay. the vineyards are on marly soils: limestone with clays. the vines are relatively young. no new oak is used.

the wine is pale yellow, without a hint of oxidation.

the nose is expressive of fresh scents of orchard fruits, particulary green apples.

the mouth has intense minerality which is followed by a fine balance between the acidity and the concentration of fruit intrinsic to the wine. the finish is persistent and lovely, with hints of citrus fruits. the balance between the acidity, the minerality, and the fruit intrinsic to the wine is persistent and lovely.

this is a delicious wine and has the potential for short term aging and evolution. on the second night the bottle was open it had evolved to become subtle and sublime in its fruit, minerality, and acid.

this is a very nice wine and one which i have in our cellar for the short term. nothing wrong with this; it is a wonderful example of its terroir.

Gigondas!

The bent of the blog has become decidedly French. That is my taste, but also I feel the wines I am choosing represent an expression of the grapes, the style, and the land from which they arise. These are old world styles, not new world fruit bombs which have such an expression of fruit that their subtlety and and nuances are lost; there is balance in these wines from which we can learn regardless of our tastes. Foods and wines are learning experiences and an opportunity to discover: wine games. Thus the missive ends and the review begins. The comments are based upon a bottle opened last evening.

The wine tonight is a retasting of Pierre Amadieu Gigondas 2007 "Romane Machotte" which was opened last evening and stood up to a spicy Thai meal. The producer is based in Gigondas, but has offerings sourced elsewhere in the Southern Rhone. We have tasted many of these and find them uniformly pleasing.

This wine is a dark ruby to purple in color without any brick at the edge of the glass; it remains young.

The nose initially has sweet blackberries and black cherries, which progresses to hints of vanilla, herbs (thyme, rosemarie), and earthiness; with time it exudes a sensation of dried fruit confit- fig and prune.

The mouth has a wonderful minerality with supple tannins. The tannins softened overnight but remained prominent and well balanced.

The finish is well balanced with a nice acidity. In the nose one gets the dried fruits and tar.

I assume the terroir of this wine is limestone gravel. The blend is 80% grenache and 20% syrah. I have driven past both the Machotte and the Romane vineyards.

I have tasted the 2006 vintage of this wine as well as the Vacqueyras from 2006 and 2007. The 2006 had more harsh tannin. This does seem to soften with age but the overall wine is not as elegant as the 2007. I generally find Vacqueyras to be more rustic than Gigondas and this seems true with the Pierre Amadieu wines. The full portfolio can be found at their web site: www.pierre-amadieu.com.

I enjoyed this wine and would strongly recommend it. Although I think it has the potential to age for 5 to 10 years, it certainly is enjoyable now. I would recommend the 2007 over the 2006 if one has a choice (I suspect a case of 2007 will find its way to my cellar, some for now and at least half for later). The best on-line price I could find was $17.99. I got mine in the Pa shop for $19.99; there is a Perrin et Fils offering at the same price and I preferred the 2007 Amadieu. This is an excellent wine and worth a try, it is a great learning experience.

As a disclaimer, I love the wines from this region. Nothing in this post is to discredit any producer or village. My comments relative to Gigondas and Vacqueyras are simply my sensory way of distinguishing their wines- I like both equally as is evidenced by my cellar.

HAVE LUNCH AT LES FLORETS IN GIGONDAS!!! Order the Domaine du Garrigue, experiment with the year.

cigar guy head wrap man from the ryder cup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK7JlGIIx3A

golf fans, this is the guy in the background on tiger's hosel rocket...

i know, it has nothing to do with wine.

cdp blanc, linkedin, how one learns

mike e mailed me after the last post with a wonderfully considered response. in sum, we should not let ourselves be overwhelmed by the "fruitbomb" of a younger wine. wines evolve with age be they red or white. part of this evolution is unique secondary aromas. decanting older wines- the same as giving them over night open- allows many of these to dissipate. i am going to decant my next bottle of white just as we now do with nearly all the red we drink.

thank you for the exceptional response mike.

white chateauneuf du pape, linkedin, and fws

this is pulled from linkedin and the french wine society group. it is a nice educational piece on the whites. conventional behavior is to drink these wines young at 2 or 3 years, but this argues for letting them age. i have chosen a basic cdp blanc at 4 years for comment and it is still going strong. no oxidation, fruitiness has softened, wonderful balance. this is under $20 in the pennsylvania stores.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, Obscure but Worth Seeking Out | Lettie Teague on Wine - WSJ.com online.wsj.com

The reds of Châteauneuf-du-Pape are famous, but the little-known white wines of the region offer many surprising rewards, says Lettie Teague

2 comments

Mike • I am so happy with this article , because it describes what I have said so many times before and still do with all my witnesses on Wine safari with me. I was 13 years PR manager of Beaucastel, have learned the knowledge about wine from Burgundy, sinking down in the southern Rhonevalley. What Marc Perrin has to say to you is comming from me , because I have learned the family Perrin that the old whites were interesting.
In the period I was the PR manager , so many peoppkle were able to join me to taste old whites from Beaucastel uptil 1980. First experimental year of Rousanne Veille Vignes. Dear Frank and Lettie, I was at domaine Pradelle in Croze Hermitage and the let me taste their white 2008, 2002 and a 1979 . I was in heaven. That 1979 reminded me a lot to the few 1980 Rousanne Veilles Vignes I tasted at the time working for Beaucastel. Lately even I had a simple Sablet Côte du Rhone Villages 2002 from domaine Goubert in Gigondas and it is tasting very good for such a style of wine. It is only; "What is rearly seen, is not well known" and therefor not regonised! I am convinced of the fact that whites keep better than reds. If I had the money for a wine-auction, I bet my money on 30 year old white wine instead of red-wine. That is to say , if you like to drink it "one day", If it is for you "poststamp" collection, than it becomes another thing. I do agree with Leslie that you should avoid the period, when a white wine "seems" be totally oxidised. Keep it a few years more and it comes back on its feet again. This can differ from one wineregion, grapevarietal...etc
4 days ago





Matt

• reading this over a glass of perrin et fils cdp blanc "les sinards" 2006. light straw color, nose of pear and melon, the palate has nice minerality with a sense of fruit, the acid is nicely balanced with a hint of lemon on the finish. there is something of a "twist" at the end i can't figure out but it seems to dissipate with time in the glass. brett? the bottle was opened last night, and it is much nicer today. i think i will let a couple of these sit and see what they do over time.

wow sancerre!

yesterday was an afternoon in the kitchen and cooking required something to open the palate. amuse bouche for the evening was roasted figs on chevre. soup was a mild cucmber gaspacho. grilled tenderloin with "grape picker" potatoes with a baby lettuce and herb salad for the meal. cheese course was a pungent soft (unknown french origin) cheese, a brie, and smoked gouda. dessert was a tarte tatin. the wines for the meal were to be a young caymus (2008) and an older one (2000) with chateau segur sauternes 1998 for dessert (they say sauternes, but it is quite close to barsac, i must look at the geography).

there are a lot of tastes in the preparation of that meal. generally, i think working with that mix of foods calls for a crisp white wine with great minerality and acid. WINE FOUND!

Domaine Cherrier et Fils 2008 Sancerre. this is a village wine not a single vineyard offering, but it really shows everything there is in a Sancerre. the color is a pale yellow. the nose is citrus- lemon and lime, with a hint of melon. there is a flinty minerality and crisp acidity. the finish is clean and pure citrus fruit, maybe kiwi.

the wine stood up to the aromas and tastes of the kitchen. it is spot on for the price range of the blog and is a wonderful example of its terroir. great wine and i would highly recommend it.